Norman Gissel, a former attorney and past chair of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, helped victims of the Aryan Nations bring a lawsuit that ultimately drove the neo-Nazi group off a compound near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.Ī new far right unites against a fresh target "And they had been informed by us for 20 straight years freedom, equality, fairness and the rule of law." They were – as it's designed to be in the jury system – ordinary people doing ordinary things and leading ordinary lives," said Gissel. "Our jury were not people of leadership in this community. Gissel credits the work of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, founded in 1981 to push back against the hate and terror that Aryan Nations attempted to sow in the community, with laying the groundwork for the legal victory. The result bankrupted the organization, and the compound property was auctioned in 2001.Īfter the dissolution of the compound, Butler remained in Hayden, Idaho, and died in 2004 at the age of 86. Led by SPLC attorney Morris Dees, the Keenans won a $6.3 million judgment against Butler and the Aryan Nations. "And boy they put on a hell of a lawsuit, let me tell you," said Gissel. The 20-acre former site of the Aryan Nations in Hayden, Idaho, is now a privately owned ranch. Aryan Nations members heard the car backfire, and started giving chase, shooting as they pursued the Keenans' vehicle. When the son dropped something from the car, they retraced their path. On a July night, an Indigenous woman named Victoria Keenan and her 18-year old son were driving along the road next to the compound. Every year it hosted an annual conference that drew Klan members and neo-Nazi skinheads, among others, from around the nation.īut in 1998, members of the compound committed a crime that would bring the group's days in North Idaho to a close. Aryan Nations had also assumed a key role among racist organizations. Tony Stewart, of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, helped in efforts to drive the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations out of the Coeur d'Alene region two decades ago.Īfter that, the group's criminal activities escalated to include bombings, bank robberies, and even the firebombing attempted assassination of Bill Wassmuth, a prominent local Catholic priest and human rights activist. "I have heard people say it feels like when the Aryan Nations were at its peak. "There's a lot of people that know what's going on and they know something's not right," said Jessica Mahuron, with the North Idaho Pride Alliance. Hammond was referring to a neo-Nazi group headquartered in that region between 19.īut many Coeur d'Alene residents said the events that day, and the hostilities that built up to them, felt eerily similar to that earlier chapter in the region's history. "We're not going back to the days of the Aryan Nations," said Coeur d'Alene Mayor Jim Hammond, two days after the Patriot Front arrests on June 11. But the events reminded locals of another time when far right extremists sought to use their turf as a national stage to promote intolerance and hatred – and how their community fought back. No portion of this site may be reproduced without the express written permission of the Las Vegas Raiders.An anti-LGBTQ protester carries a semi-automatic rifle as he monitors Coeur d'Alene's "Pride in the Park" event on June 11, 2022.ĬOEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - The mass arrest earlier this month of 31 white nationalists allegedly en route to riot at a Pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, drew attention to the unprecedented increase in threats to the LGBTQ community.
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